On 14th August 2010, I had my first pole vault competition which was held at Cedar Girls Secondary. I was feeling butterflies in my stomach as I had never participated in any competition. Thus, I prayed very hard the night before and the morning of the day of the competition.
When, I arrived at Cedar Girls Secondary, I began to have stomach aches. soon, our opponents from Raffles Institution and Catholic High arrived. They were strong opponents and I was feeling more and more nervous. During the warm up session, my performance was already getting worse. During the competition,I was getting more and more nervous.
Although I had been training for quite a few months, I have not learnt how to cross the height yet. However, the starting height was only 2.4 metres. I told myself that I was going to cross it as it was not a very high height. To my disappointment, I did not. For the second try, I was very sure that after knowing the kind of feeling during the competition, and after getting used to the atmosphere, I was able to cross the height. However, again, I did not cross it. The third attempt and also the last attempt, I was really sure that I would certainly cross it. As expected, I did not cross! I was really disappointed in myself. As a punishment, It had to do 500 push ups! I was mental and physical torture!
Although I unheighted, I still enjoyed myself as there were many unexpected and funny cases. I remembered, one of my friends actually accidentally dropped the pole and catch it again, and then, the best part was that he managed to cross the height however, the way my seniors always say- flying pork!
There was also this competitor from RI who continuously bounce on the same spot for a very long time before his started running.
After the competition, I was still very upset with myself. In the later part of the day,my senior texted me saying that the competition was actually for the those in secondary 2 and above. However, they wanted us to have an exposure of how it feels to be in a pole vault competition. Only then, I felt better. Actually, I thought that some of the competitors, who were nerdy and short, were from secondary 1 and was thus very disappointed with myself as I thought that if they could cross the height, so could I.
After this competition, I have learnt how it feels to be in a competition and have seen how hard it was to win. So, I will definitely work very hard and win in the upcoming competitions!
Yeah I agree with you senior that exposure is important. You need to know what happens in a true pole vault competition as soon as possible so that you won't screw up the real big competitions. Anyway good luck in future competitions.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you had a chance to see what a pole vault competition feels like. You will definitely gain from your experience just like your senior said. Hope you are not discouraged and will continue to work hard. One day you might just win a competition ;)
ReplyDeleteIt is alright if you lose as long as you continue to work harder and harder. Tell you what next time before a competition try to breathe in and breathe out slowly, soon you will not feel so nervous. It works for me well, so i hope it will work for you too!!! Jia You Arnold and do proud for Hwa Chong!!! Go Arnold
ReplyDeleteArnold,never mind if you did not win anything. Just take it as a experience. Everyone has his first time. Now that you know the standard of your competitors, work extra hard and imagined four years later, you receiving a medal in the National Track an Field meet, doing Hwachong proud! Chairman, you can do it!
ReplyDelete1o328 Wang Ri Xin